Should Porn Actors Wear Condoms? LA County Voters May Decide Soon!

Some voters in Los Angeles County certainly think so. The Los Angeles Times reports that a ballot measure asking residents whether porn actors should wear condoms during sex scenes has collected enough signatures to appear on the November ballot.

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HIV activists hail the measure’s early success, saying that porn actors are at constant risk of contracting sexually-transmitted diseases.

More than 371,000 signatures have been collected for the ballot, more than the required 232,000. The county Board of Supervisors must take the next step of placing the measure on the ballot. Weinstein’s group conducted a poll in March with more than 1,000 voters, 63 percent of whom voting that they would support the measure in November.

Porn producers say that they should not be forced to make their performers wear protection. In fact, porn industry insiders say they plan to fight the ballot measure or move out of town. Also, producers claim that consumers do not want to buy porn if the actors are wearing condoms.

The California porn industry has been shut down numerous times over actors testing positive for HIV. The latest outbreak came in 2010. Darren James, an African-American performer tested positive for HIV in 2004 and unknowingly spread the virus to three different women.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times in Oct. of 2010, James said that the industry should require that actors wear condoms.

“You think you’re safe, but you’re not. In between scenes, you don’t know what other actors are doing,” James told the board before turning to the crowd of about 40 at Costa Mesa City Hall. “I’m living your nightmare every day,” he said.

On Tuesday , James renewed his criticism of the industry for failing to protect actors and actresses.

“The actors … they’re not getting the protection that they need. There should have been mandatory condoms,” James said. “Good grief, it’s like my deal, all over again. I hate that.”

What do you think. Should porn actors be forced to wrap it up? Or should the government mind its business and stop trying to regulate private enterprise?